COULD the lucrative drug trade be behind the rising conflict between administration and 'regular police at the Coast?

Two senior officers from Nairobi were sent yesterday to Mombasa to launch an inquest after two senior AP officers were shot, one 15 times and the other seven times, by police who claimed they were on a robbery mission. Inspector Badi Majirani and Inspector Juma Mwasaru were shot dead on Saturday morning in Momhasa opposite Toyota Kenya on Moi Avenue. AP Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua was said to be "extremely upset" according to a close confidant.

The armoury at the AP Mornbasa headquarters was reportedly under extra guard as APs at their Tononoka housing estate threatened to avenge the death of their colleagues.

According to senior AP officers who declined to be named, the two were executed as a result of their persistent battle against the trade in hard drugs, A high ranking regular police officer is accused of hampering the crackdown on hard drugs and AP bosses in Mombasa have called for an investigation to find out the truth, Many drug hauls in Mombasa have been impounded by AP officers.

"Nobody has so far been arrested in connection with the incident which we still believe took place to avert a robbery attempt at Toyota Kenya," said Coast Police chief Leo Nyongesa. "Our officers were out to prevent a crime. We recovered from the scene of the shooting a Ceska pistol and nine rounds of ammunition. We are taking this matter seriously and investigations are underway to ascertain claims of execution."

AP officers maintain that a revolver and Ceska pistols with several rounds of ammunition were planted on the deceased by Flying Squad officers. According to AP officers, Inspector Majirani and Inspector Mwasaru were having breakfast at a kiosk opposite Toyota Kenya operated by Juma's wife.

Flying Squad officers in two vehicles raided the kiosk and asked the two to surrender. Badi and Juma were then shot at close range, in front of the public and Juma's wife who teaches at Tononoka primary school. "They were asked to raise their hands. Juma who was reading a newspaper raised his hands and dropped the paper. He then reached for his official job identification card which he showed the officers who were armed with AK47 rifles. They showered him with 15 bullets in his chest and legs," said an officer dose to the deceased.

"Juma's wife told us they said 'Wewe ndio Badi, ulikuwa unafikiri hatutakupata, leo tutakumaliza (So you are Badi, you thought we would not catch up with you, today we will finish you)," the officer said.

"The truth is that Administration Police of- fleers in Mombasa and the regular police have been at loggerheads over the fight against drugs. We have clashed with the regular police on several occasions. There are instances where we have had to release suspects and where exhibits like bhang have been interfered with just so that the court cases are thrown away."

The AP officer added, "How do you explain 15 bullets on one person at close range on claims that he was just about to rob an office? Our officers surrendered and even showed their job ID cards which were all strewn at the scene of the shooting."

"Badi was fiddled with bullets in his chest and legs while juma had seven bullets in his head. Their bodies were yesterday at the Coast General Hospital as relatives from their homes in Msambweni jammed the morgue.

Badi was responsible for unearthing some huge drug hauls in Coast Province. In March Badi and other AP officers impounded a Landcruiser in Kisauni which was carrying 12 bags of bhang valued at Sh8 million. The drugs were later displayed at the Tononoka AP camp.

A man suspected of distributing the bhang was arrested but mysteriously dodged police roadblocks all the way from Migori to Mombasa, When arrested, he tried frantically to call a senior police officer before his two phones were confiscated. The senior officer in question has also been accused by junior officers including OCSs and OCPDs of undermining their efforts to fight drug trafficking.

At the weekend lawyer Patrick Lumumha led civil society groups to protest rising insecurity and accused a senior officer of hampering efforts by junior officers to fight crime. Last week regular police officers came under scathing attack from the public and local leaders before the Philip Ransley commission sitting in Mombasa.

Yesterday an OCS based in Coast province said he was at loggerheads with the senior officer and was to face disciplinary action for "arresting suspects and impounding hard drugs in my area". "I thought I was doing a good job in fighting hard drugs in the region which has continued to be a haven for drug kingpins, only to be questioned as to why I impounded drugs and arrested 'innocent' people," he complained.

At the Tononoka camp yesterday, where Badi and Juma resided. with their families, some of the AP officers vowed to avenge the death of their colleagues. It took Mombasa DC Abdi Hassan and the Mombasa AP commandant Hussein Mohammed to talk calm them down. Abdi described the death of the two as a major blow to the AP force and specifically in the fight against the use and sale of hard drugs in Coast region. Regular police were deployed to a police post near the Tononoka AP base to prevent any possible dash on Saturday night.

Coast PC Ernest Munyi, who commands the APs in the province, is expected to address the Press this morning. The parts of Mombasa most affected by hard drugs are Kisauni, Mvita and Likoni constituencies. Internal Security minister George Saitoti called . a press conference at Harambee House yesterday and said there was no bad blood between police and APs. Saitoti said he did not want to jeopardise the work of the investigators by commenting on the drug claims.

"I have to be very responsible in what I say at this moment," remarked the minister. After addressing the media, Saitoti then chaired a security meeting attended also by Police Commissioner Hussein Ali in which AP bosses expressed displeasure over the Mombasa killings. Prime Minister Raila Odinga said in MaIindi that it was wrong for police officers to shoot suspects instead of arresting them.

He told Saitoti to ensure the officers who killed their colleagues were arrested and charged.